Irreplacable
by LeytonLaleylover
Summary: College life is Haley's new challenge and with a baby on the way things are going to be interesting. Throw in her roommate and a broken heart and anything's possible, even a new love. Then there's that question that everyone keeps asking. Who's the dad?
1. Chapter 1

**Irreplacable**

**Chapter 1**

_It was the day after graduation, and Haley had walked over to Lucas at his graduation party. As she hugged him she wished that he would have somehow found out her biggest secret of all. She always felt like she couldn't tell him, but now she wishes she had. Maybe they wouldn't have been friends, but at least she'd be free from her secret she thought. As they break off the hug, she wonders if he had a secret of his own that he's been keeping from her. Somehow she doubted it. Why would he?_  
That was the last time she had seen him, that day at his graduation party. Now it was just a waste to think about if he ever had a secret of his own. It wouldn't matter now anyway she thought. Not now that he was gone forever. She couldn't help but think about why he wasn't with them anymore though, it wasn't like he had a heart attack or anything like that. He had been taking his medication and hadn't been over active she thought. No, he had just been taken too soon by a single bullet. The thought saddened her. Her best friend had been gunned down in broad daylight at the river court.  
Looking around her dorm room she can't help but think about how much things had changed since that day. There were too many things that had changed since then, and by how Haley saw it they probably wouldn't have if Lucas was still with them. She had never realized how much he had assisted in so many aspects of her life before than, and how much he was holding a big something together for her.  
That big something was her marriage to Nathan, which after Lucas was gone fell apart at the seams within just weeks. Maybe Lucas had been her good luck charm she thought. How else would you explain how she and the baby had safely survived a car crash that should have killed at least one of them if not both of them?  
Haley was now planning on naming her soon to be son after Lucas. In her mind it was the only name that she wanted to name her first born son. After all Lucas was the one person that she admired the most all of those years that he was with them even if they had only been friends.  
"Hey Haley, do you want to go with me to the dinning hall for dinner?"  
"I guess so," she says coming out of her daze as her roommate, Claire, slips out of her slippers and into her sneakers. "Just give me a minute."  
"Don't worry I'm not going to rush a pregnant woman."  
"I would watch it if I were you."  
"Okay, you're still touchy. I'll back off," Claire says pausing and watching Haley get up from her bed.

_"You know I thought it would be different this time," Nathan yells slamming the door behind him as he comes into the apartment. "Now I find out that you've been back at it again."_  
_"Nate, you're over reacting."_  
_"No, I'm not. Now who is he?"_  
_"It doesn't matter who he is," Haley says trying to keep her voice down._  
_"Yes it sure does. I want to know who the heck got you pregnant. It's either you tell me or we're through."_  
_"We can make it through this just like we've done in the past."_  
_"It's not like last time," he says raising his voice even louder. "You slept with someone this time."_  
_"I know and I'm sorry."_  
_"I love you Haley, but sorry doesn't cut it this time. Not to mention that I had to find out that it's not my baby while we were at the doctor's."_  
_"Well you found out when I did." Pleading with her eyes she hopes that maybe Nathan will change his mind. "I didn't realize the baby was his either Nate."_  
_"If the doctor didn't request for that test to be run you would of gotten away with it. You didn't get away with it though. Personally I don't like the idea that you have been hiding that there was even a possibility that someone else could be the father of the baby."_  
"So who's the father? I mean, you've never even hinted at it."  
"That's because it's not important."  
"He slept with you and ran when he found out didn't he?"  
"No," Haley says looking at her irritated. "He never knew it was his baby, if you must really know."  
"Oh, I guess I shouldn't have asked."

_"You know dawg, this is really weird."_  
_"I know," Haley says looking around Lucas's room. "It's kind of hard to sleep considering he's not here anymore."_  
_"Then why don't you find somewhere else to sleep, like on the couch?"_  
_"I know, but it's kind of comforting to sleep in here. Everything still smells like him."_  
_"I never thought of it that way," Skills says sitting down on Lucas' bed. "Almost everything's left exactly how it was. I just wish he was still here with us, he was taken too early."_  
_"I feel the same way."_  
_"So what do you plan on doing now that you and Nathan are calling it quits for real?"_  
_"Well for starters I'm going to go to Stanford." Looking over at Skills, Haley watches for a reaction. "I mean that was the original plan anyway, and I got accepted and didn't tell them either way yet so I can still go there."_  
_"Hey I'm not going to get all judgmental on you. Besides Lucas wouldn't be."_  
"You never bring up anything about friends or family."  
"I just don't like talking about stuff okay?" Getting up from her computer chair in their dorm room Haley throws a look Claire's way.  
"You may not like talking about it, but maybe you should talk about it."  
"Yeah well maybe I should, but I don't want to."  
"Look if you need to talk to someone I'm a pretty good listener," Claire says looking understanding towards Haley.  
"So how old are you anyway?"  
"You're finally interested in finding out some stuff about me, that figures. Well for your information I'm sixteen."  
"So you're a little smarty pants?"  
"I suppose I am," Claire says laughing a little.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_"Hales," Lucas says brushing tears away from her eye with his finger. "Can I lay with you?"  
"Of course you can."  
"What's wrong bud?"  
"It's just that this is the last night we're ever going to be high school students." Looking over at him she sees his calm face looking back at her teary eyed face. "It's just that it used to seem so far away, and now…"  
"I know, but Haley you have Nathan and before you know it you'll be holding that baby in your arms."  
"I'll be a pregnant mother in college. This isn't how I saw it happening."  
"It's not exactly the best timing, but Hales you'll do just fine. You're a fighter," he says patting her on the leg. "Like always, if you ever need any help I'll be there for you."_  
"Hey roomy," Claire says bringing Haley out of her daze. "Do you want to go with me?"  
"You're going home this weekend right?"  
"Yeah, do you want to come?"  
"Sure," Haley says starting to slowly get up. "It's not like I have anything else to do."

"So this is your place?"  
"It sure is," Claire says putting her glass down on one of the coasters on the table. "Luckily my parents are out of town."  
"Oh don't say that."  
"Really, you're lucky you haven't met my parents yet."  
"Well mine can be rather unpleasant to live with sometimes," Haley says looking around the living room a little more. "Like the time that my mom yelled out the window for my dad to get in the house because I was supposedly pregnant, which at the time I wasn't."  
"Okay, you might have mine beat there."

"Just on time," Claire says as she gets up and heads out to the door. "We're hanging out in the living room today."  
"Oh and you got your roommate to come, as planned."  
"Of course I did, you know me."  
"Yeah good at suckering almost anyone to do what you want them to do," one of Claire's male friends says sitting down next to Haley on the couch. Looking over at Haley he studies her. "So who's the daddy?"  
"I don't feel like talking about it."  
"Hey Claire, you didn't say your friend was moody."  
"She's not moody, she just likes her privacy. Haley, this is my boyfriend Phil," she says gesturing to the guy standing on her right. "And that one sitting next to you is my older brother Brendan."  
"So how about we get lost?"  
"I'm not sure that's a good idea."  
"Come on," Phil says grabbing hold of Claire's hand. "I heard that they're playing a special showing of The Wizard of Oz down at the theatre."  
"Alright, you know I can't turn that down. Well have fun kids."  
"You do remember that we're older than you right?"  
"Ugh," Haley says as they hear the door close behind Phil and Claire as they leave. "Does she do this a lot?"  
"Not with girls that are my age. She usually puts Tom in this position."  
"Great, I'm not the first then."  
"Don't feel too bad," Brendan says placing his hand on her leg. "There's nothing to feel bad about."  
"Really? I'm pregnant and sitting on a couch with my roommate's older brother."  
"See now you shouldn't look at it that way."  
"Why…," Haley says getting interrupted by Brendan's lips pressing up against hers. Smelling him as he leans in closer to her the smell seems familiar. Not too certain about the smell's origins she can't help but wonder what that smell is. Was it cologne? No, it definitely wasn't cologne. What was it?  
Leaning in drawn to the smell she lets him kiss her. What ever the smell was she was attracted to it and it drew her in like an insect to a light. Feeling something strange yet familiar as she rests her hand on his pant leg she realizes where she knows that smell from. Why hadn't she thought of it? Pulling away she looks down at the grease spot on his pants and then back up at his face.  
"You're a mechanic?"  
"Yeah," he says looking down at his pants at the spot of grease she had discovered. "I work at the body shop here in town. Why is something wrong? You look kind of weird."  
"No, I'm fine. I just got caught off guard."  
"I guess that was kind of fast."  
"It was," Haley says as his cell phone rings. "Who is that?"  
"It's my boss, I need to go in."  
"Well I guess I'll have to go with you then. There's no way that I'm going to stay in house that I barely know anything about by myself."

"Hey Brendan, your pickup is over on Johnson."  
"So someone's car died over there again?"  
"Yes, and luckily they don't believe in calling the dealership," Brendan's boss says starting to head into a small make shift office. "By the way Kidd's still away on that call."  
"You like giving him those don't you?"  
"Well the rest of you complain if I try to give them to you. I just find it easier to give them to the one person around here that doesn't complain about it."  
"That makes sense," Haley says leaning up against the main counter.  
"Where did you get this one? I like her."  
"My sister brought her home."  
"I knew she was smart," his boss says sitting down in his chair. "I just didn't realize she was that smart."  
"Well I guess you won't mind if she hangs out here while I'm out on my call."  
"No problem, besides she doesn't seem like she'll get in too much trouble."  
"Good," Brendan says heading out of the shop. "I'll be back later then."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hey Kidd, I have to run. My wife's harping about how I'm never home on time again." Getting up from his desk, their boss heads for the door. "Just get your work done, and make sure you don't leave her here alone."  
"Her…?"  
"Yeah, she's not stupid either so don't go giving her any wise ideas. Oh, and treat her well otherwise I'll have to use what I know. She's sitting over there at the worktable."  
"Alright," he says watching as his boss takes off. Looking over at where Haley's sitting writing he studies her. Seeing her blonde hair falling down along her back he starts to feel nervous. This was the first time that their boss had ever allowed any strangers stay around the shop for any length of time without having a good solid reason.  
Walking over towards her he takes his time. Anxious, which for him wasn't necessarily usual, he slowly comes up to the worktable. Slowly leaning up against it to get a better look at her he's half startled to find out who it is.  
"Hales…?"  
Looking up from her writing, Haley is shocked to see who it is. Speechless, she just sits there studying him. How could this be? Lucas was supposed to be dead, but instead he stood there looking down at her.  
"So Kidd? That's a new one," she says after awhile.  
"Yeah, I don't know why they insist on comparing me to him."  
"You're good. I don't know if you're as good as him though. Jason's one of your favorite players, but I suppose they don't know that."  
"You're going to Stanford," Lucas says pulling up a stool. "That's the last thing I would expect considering…"  
"It's complicated, trust me it's not completely how it seems."  
"Are you and Nate together?"  
"No," Haley says looking down at her hands. "Not much is how it was then."  
"I gather that. I just can't believe he would leave you like that… this." Looking down at her huge belly he realizes that she's still very much pregnant.

"Okay, I can't believe I'm saying this, but stop staring at me. Besides, shouldn't he be back by now, it's been hours?"  
"I just can't wrap my mind around the idea that you and Nate aren't together."  
"Look," Haley says getting up from her stool. "After you weren't around anymore a lot of things changed. One of them being that me and Nate aren't together anymore. Just incase you need to know, it has a lot to do with you."  
"Hales...!"  
"What…?"  
"Your water," Lucas says looking down at the floor. "Your water, it broke."  
"Oh my gosh. Luke I'm not ready. I don't have any of my stuff with me."  
"Let's just focus on getting you to the hospital for right now. Okay…?"  
"What if…"  
Picking her up and scooping her up into his arms before she can finish asking him the question Lucas carries her out to his car. Opening the back door, he lays her down in the back seat. Going back in the shop, after he closes the car door, he hurries to lock up the shop.  
"Well that was one way to shut a girl up," she says as he gets into the driver's seat. "You didn't hurt yourself did you?"  
"You're pregnant and you're asking me if I hurt my shoulder?"  
"Yes, I don't want you hurting yourself because of me. Besides you were shot."  
"That was months ago," he says as he fires up the car and pulls out of the parking lot. "I'm feeling a lot better nowadays."

"Shouldn't you be going back to work?"  
"You're having contractions Hales, I'm staying here with you. I can work on that car tomorrow."  
"Luke you don't have to stay," Haley says looking away from him. "I don't need you to stay."  
"I'm your best friend. I should be here."

"Brendan," Claire yells coming into the shop. "You're somewhere in here right?"  
"Yeah, I'm in here."  
"There you are. I checked the house, but you two weren't there and then I thought I'd come by here to check to see if you were here."  
"Well I'm here," he says looking coming over to her. "Haley on the other hand isn't."  
"What do you mean she's not here?"  
"I mean, I went out on a call and when I came back she wasn't here."  
"I didn't think it was that hard for you to keep an eye on her for part of a day." Yelling at him she gives him a slight smack up side the head. "No, you have to go and mess it up."  
"I get it you're upset. The boss was here when I left, so I thought it'd be okay to leave her here while I went out on my call."  
"Well do you have any idea where she might be?"  
"I don't know really, but Kidd's car isn't here and it was when I left." Brendan says looking out front at where their cars are. "How far along was she? That seems like a better question."  
"Um, it was getting close to the time that she was due."  
"Maybe someone took her to the hospital then."  
"She must be horrified then," Claire says looking even more worried then before. "I mean she doesn't even really know either one of those guys."

"Ugh," Haley screams as she gives a push. Holding her as he sits behind her Lucas holds her hands in his. As she squeezes his hands he winces slightly, but at the same time he's also smiling. At first he found the whole situation strange, he thought Nathan should be there. Now he found that it just felt right for him to be there with her during this moment in her life.  
"Come on just another push."  
Giving another push Haley feels relieved as she sees the doctor holding the baby. Smiling she looks over at Lucas as he leans up against her, hugging her. Leaning forward slightly to allow for Lucas to get out from behind her Haley watches him as he gets off of the hospital bed.  
"How is he?"  
"He may be slightly early coming out, but he's healthy." Cleaning the baby up the doctor looks over at Lucas and then over at Haley. "He's going to be a looker that's for sure."  
"That isn't surprising."  
Coming over to her the doctor carefully hands her the baby. Looking down at her newborn son, Haley smiles down at him a gigantic smile. Sitting down on the bed next to her as the doctor starts to head towards the foot of the bed Lucas starts to study the baby.  
"Now there's a picture for the family photo album," the doctor says as she takes a picture of the three of them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"So what would you like for his name to be?"  
"Hales," Lucas says looking at her baffled. "Why would you have me name him?"  
"Well considering up until yesterday I was going to name him after you, I thought you would want him to be named something different than that now."  
"Yeah, but I'm not his father the last time I checked."  
"Luke, you might want to take a closer look at him then." Looking over at Lucas she can tell that he doesn't believe her. Then taking a closer look at the baby boy, he's slightly taken aback as he studies the baby's nose.  
"He has my nose, but I don't remember us ever sleeping together. So how could that even be possible?"  
"Do you remember when…"  
_Heading into the bar Haley spots Lucas sitting at the counter. Walking over to him she sits down on the stool next to him. Looking over at her with curiosity he starts to laugh a little as she studies him.  
"So what brings you out to the bar?"  
"Your mom called me," she says as he orders another drink. "She asked me if I could help look for you."_  
"Yeah that was the night after the shooting, the second night I couldn't fall asleep. Besides…"  
_Waking up in the morning in the bed at a motel Lucas looks around disorientated. Spotting Haley over by the dresser he sits up. As she turns to look at him she seems uncomfortable although she's fully clothed. Gesturing at him she brings his attention to the fact that other than the covers he's laying there with nothing covering his naked body.  
"What are you doing here, and who did I sleep with?"  
"I came looking for you when you mom called me. I saw your car outside as I was riding by. I don't know who you slept with. I didn't see her."_  
"I lied to you at the time. I didn't want you to feel bad. I knew you would of beat yourself up over it considering that I was married at the time and you had a girlfriend."  
"Okay, I guess you did me a favor back then. Now it's different though." Looking from her to their son and then back up at her he stares at her in wonder. "How did it come about that night in the room?"  
_"Okay boozy just work with me here," Haley says slowly making her way into the motel room and over to the bed with Lucas leaning up against her side with his arm across her shoulders.  
"Well if I'm a boozy you're a prude."  
"I'll just pretend you didn't say that." As Lucas settles down on the bed, Haley heads back over to the door to close it.  
"I'm pretty sure you're a prude. You don't even like to drink."  
"At least I don't drink so much that I need someone to make sure that I get to somewhere safe for the night."  
"Oh, I'm so scared of little Miss goody two shoes." Grabbing at her shirt as she comes over to the bed Lucas pulls her closer to him. "Come on, how about we have some fun?"  
"No we're not going to do that. You're not thinking right Luke."  
"I'm a guy, you're a girl. So why not?"  
"You're drunk and I'm married," she says as he pulls her down closer to him. Reaching up slightly and kissing her Lucas runs his hand through her hair. Luring her in with his kiss, she starts to give in to him. As she presses her lips tenderly up against his, he pulls away from her slightly.  
"See I knew you couldn't resist me."_  
"How drunk was I?"  
"Let's just say that I was surprised about what you did after that, considering."  
_Pulling her up to the head of the bed, he rests her head on the pillows. Leaning down over her Lucas kisses her while using tongue. Running his hand along her stomach he starts to push up her shirt. Pulling her shirt up over her head he breaks away from the kiss momentarily.  
Unbuttoning her jeans and then pulling down the zipper, he pushes her jeans down her legs and as they get caught on her shoes he reaches down to take her shoes off of her feet. Untying the laces, he pulls them off and then pushes her jeans off the rest of the way. Then running his hands up along her body Lucas smiles at her as he breaks the kiss after starting it again.  
"You're really pretty," Lucas whispers in her ear. Pulling his shirt up over his head he then kisses her on the neck. Moving along down to her bosom he kisses her breasts, and then reaches under her and unsnaps her bra. "Why haven't we ever done this before?"  
Running her hands along his chest she looks into his eyes. Taking her hands into his, he guides her hands down to the top of his jeans. Undoing his belt and his jeans, she pushes them down around his knees._  
"Apparently I'm a lot different when I'm drunk than when I'm sober. I'm sorry that I called you a prude."  
"You were drunk, I didn't hold it against you. Now as for this little guy…," Haley says looking down at their son.  
"I think Jason would be a good name."  
"I like that name too. Jason Scott, that has a nice sound to it."

"Hey there," Lucas says coming into Haley's hospital room with some baby stuff in hand. "I managed to get some things for Jason.""Thanks. I should now be set until I get back to college."  
"Yeah, so I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."  
"Oh," Haley says knowing that can't mean anything good. "What is it?"  
"It's just that we can't be in regular contact after we leave here today. I know you're not going to like that idea, but Hales it's for your and Jason's safety. It's also for my own safety too."  
"Right, I almost forgot that I'm not suppose to know that you're alive."  
"Hales," he says putting his arm around her as he sits down next to her on the bed. "I would love to stay in contact with you, but right now it's too dangerous. The person that shot me, they're still out there."  
"Is it okay that Jason has your last name than?"  
"It should be. Just because he has my last name doesn't mean that I'm here. You could have gave him my last name even if I wasn't here."  
"Are you ever going to be able to be in a prominent part of our lives?" Looking over at him she slowly leans into him.  
"Eventually I will hopefully be able to. In the meantime though, you have to make sure that you let my mom be a part of his life."  
"Luke, of course your mom's going to be a part of his life. She's been like my second mom for years, especially lately."  
"Okay," Lucas says noticing her facial expression. "I'm going to pretend that I don't find it weird that you stayed in my room over the summer."  
"You really do know me too well."  
"You know, I am your best friend."  
"I know, and you will be… always and _forever_." Laughing in unison as she says it like that, they lean their foreheads against each other. Looking into one another's eyes he looks away after awhile. Getting up from the bed and to his feet, he glances back at her over his shoulder.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Thanks for paying for the hospital bill," Haley says as they pull up to the shop. "You didn't have to."  
"It was the least I could do, considering the current situation."  
"I know, but still it would have been fine if you hadn't paid it."  
"Hales he's my son," Lucas says parking the car. "I should do something to support him, and for right now that'll have to consist of paying the hospital bill."  
"Alright, I suppose I'm just trying not to need anyone a little bit more than I should."  
"I get it, but you don't have to be that way around me."  
"I guess we should get in there," she says seeing Brendan's car in the lot. "He's probably wondering where I've been."  
"Well I'm not sure how I should take this. I mean I know that again the situation isn't the greatest, but are you replacing me with him?"  
"Luke you're irreplaceable. No one's been by me all of these years like you have."  
"Yeah, I guess we should get you two in there."  
Opening his door, Lucas looks over at Haley uncertain. Wondering how he should take what she said he can't help but think that she might have been hinting to him that she was moving on. It was strange to think about it that way, but he couldn't help it. They had been best friends for so long and now they had a chance at being something more and it couldn't happen because he was supposed to be dead.  
As she heads into the shop with Jason in her arms he watches as Brendan coming over to Haley hugs her. Becoming uncomfortable as Haley lets Brendan hold his son Lucas can't help but feel that he's been replaced no matter what she might have said. It seemed simple to him, he couldn't be in her life but Brendan could.  
"Hey," Brendan says coming over to Lucas holding Jason. "We're going to head back to the house now. My sister has been worried about her for hours now. You're going to be staying to work on that car right?"  
"Yeah, go ahead I'll close up."

"Oh my gosh," Claire says running over to Haley as she comes into the house. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"  
"I don't know Kidd. I don't trust anyone that I've never met either."  
"I'm fine," Haley says looking over her shoulder to see where Brendan is. "My water just broke and he had to take me to the hospital."  
"Wait, you had the baby?"  
"Yes, he's a healthy little baby boy."  
"He sure is," Brendan says coming in holding Jason.

"Where is he?"  
"Who are you talking about?" Looking up the guys' boss sees Brendan coming into the shop irritated.  
"I'm talking about Kidd. Where the hell is he?"  
"Well he's coming in later to finish off that car. Other than that I don't know where he is or what his plans are."  
"I'll wait for him then," Brendan says sitting down behind the counter and folding his arms.

_"Where are you?""I'm back here," Lydia says coming out of the bedroom in the RV. "How are you doing today?"  
"Mom, I'm fine."  
"Alright, I just wish you would tell someone who the father of the baby is."  
"I'm just scared," Haley says walking over to her mom and hugging her. "I just don't know how people would take it."  
"I know it's hard sweetie. You can tell me and your dad though. We'll be here for you no matter who the father is."  
"Thanks. I really kind of do need at least one person to talk to about it."_  
"This is all kind of crazy isn't it?" Laying down on her bed in the dorm room Claire looks over at Haley. "I mean, being a single mother and living off at a college dorm room isn't something that many people consider a possibility."  
"I know, but hey I've never done what other people would see as normal."  
"I was starting to figure that."  
"Yeah well I was pretty much an independent before any of my other friends," Haley says letting out a slight laugh.  
"Really? That's impressive."  
"I was exaggerating a little."  
"Oh okay," Claire says looking at Haley a little strange.

"Where have you been?"  
"I've been at my place kicking back and relaxing," Lucas says responding as Brendan comes into view. "Why is something wrong?"  
"Yeah something's wrong. You took her to the hospital and now she's acting differently."  
"Well she should be acting different she had a baby."  
"So you find it funny?" Getting up in Lucas's face Brendan almost spits in his face as he speaks. "It's easy for you to take it lightly, you don't have anyone that you love."  
"You don't know enough about me to come to that conclusion. I may not talk about people around you, but then again I have never thought of myself as a gossiper."  
"I don't care what you think about yourself, but all I know is that I don't trust you around her or any girl for that matter."  
"Never mind," Lucas says heading over to the car that he had towed to the garage the previous day. "It's not even worth it. Besides it's not like I could change your mind at this point."  
"Your mind is the one that needs to be changed, not mine."  
"You don't know what you're talking about man."  
"Well you just tell that to my sister, which by the way was half scared out of her mind when you were at the hospital with Haley." Shoving Lucas Brendan shoves him up against one of the counters in the shop. Grabbing hold of Brendan's shirt Lucas pushes him away while keeping hold of his shirt.  
"What's wrong with you? I would never purposely hurt her."  
"Really, why should I believe that?"  
"Because even if you don't realize it," Lucas says letting go of Brendan's shirt. "We have more in common than you know."  
"Yeah right, I've never heard anything further from the truth."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As Claire puts Jason down to sleep while Haley's at class she hears a soft bleeping sound coming from the computer. Looking over at the screen she sees that Haley left her computer on and someone had sent Haley an instant message. Heading over to the computer, she checks to see who had sent the message.  
Asking who it is Claire waits for a response. Sending her a response back Nathan asks her what her name is. Telling him she starts to think that perhaps this is the person, the man, that Haley won't tell her about. Trying to learn more about Nathan she keeps corresponding with him on the computer for awhile.  
Towards the end of their correspondence he asks her if she knows if Haley has any pictures of Jason. Not thinking twice she sends him the pictures in one of the folders that Haley has saved on the computer. Just before they sign off, he thanks her for sending him the pictures.  
Coming into the dorm about an hour later, Haley walks over to the computer and gets onto the instant messenger. Looking to see who's on she notices that no one is currently on. As Claire rolls over and looks at her Haley looks disappointed.  
"What did you miss your boyfriend?"  
"Why would you ask that?"  
"Hmm," Claire says curious as to if Haley's trying to be defensive or if she really doesn't know why she was asking that. "I don't know, but I was chatting with your friend Nathan earlier."  
"You were doing what?"  
"Oh, um… was I not supposed to be talking to him? He was on your buddy list so I thought it would be okay."  
"No," Haley says taking a moment to think about what else she was going to say. "It's fine. What did you two talk about though?"  
"Mainly just about you and Jason. Oh and I sent him your pictures."  
"My pictures…?"  
"Yeah," Claire says gesturing towards the computer. "The ones in the folder on your computer."  
"Which ones did you send?"  
"All of them, why?"  
"Oh," Haley says starting to pace. "That's not good."  
"What do you mean? They're just pictures."  
"Claire, he wasn't supposed to see the one."  
"Oh," Claire says looking away. "I'm sorry."

Carefully looking through the pictures Nathan takes in each one. It had been awhile since him and Haley had called it quits, but he still cared. He still cared about how she was doing, and he still cared about her baby son even if he wasn't his. Coming to the last of the bunch, the one with a different form of file name, he paused before opening the file. He figured it had been one that she scanned he thought, that would explain the difference in file names.  
Clicking on it he opens it. Taken by surprise he glances around to make sure that he's alone. The picture had been from when she was at the hospital with a just born Jason, but the part of the picture that had grabbed Nathan's attention was Lucas' presence. There was certainly a story behind it, and he couldn't help but let his mind wander.  
Lucas was alive and in Nathan's mind that only gave him reasons to wonder about what was behind Lucas's supposed death. Two Scott's killed within less than a year, at the time it had just seemed coincidental but now he knew it couldn't be. What was the story he wondered.

"Alright, it's official my brother's over protective of you."  
"Why, what did he do?"  
"Oh," Claire says acting as if it's nothing. "He yelled at Kidd about the whole hospital thing."  
"Why the heck would he do that?"  
"He's just trying to make sure that no one hurts you, and more importantly that no one stands in between you and him."  
"The first part I understand, but the second part doesn't make any sense." Trying to calm down as not to get Jason worked up, Haley sits down. "I mean he hardly knows me at all."  
"Come on, I think it's kind of cute. Besides he really likes you."  
"Yeah, and I like him. It's just that I'm not sure I like him in that way at all."  
"No one's saying you have to," Claire says looking confused. "Besides why are you getting all up in arms over this?"  
"Because I'm sick of your brother judging people that he hardly even knows."  
"Okay, I'll take it that you and Kidd really bonded when you were at the hospital together."

"Hi Karen," Nathan says as he makes his way into the café. "How are you?"  
"I'm fine. How is college going?"  
"It's going good. I just received some pictures of Haley and Jason the other day. I thought you would want to see them."  
"Oh thanks," she says caught off guard by the news. "It's been a little while since I've heard from her. I didn't know you two were talking."  
"I caught her screen name online the other day, but it was her roommate not her."  
"I'm sure she still would have sent you the pictures."  
"Maybe," Nathan says handing Karen the pictures as they head into the kitchen. "I'm sure she would have given you the chance to see them first though."  
"I'm not so sure about that."  
"I am. I've just been wondering, do you think I could look through some of Lucas' things?"  
"Yeah," Karen says looking at him in wonder. "Why, are looking for something? If you are I might know where it is."  
"Actually, I am looking for something. I hardly doubt you would know where it is though."  
"Oh okay, I'll just give you a key then and you can just see if you can find it."  
"That sounds good," he says turning to leave. "By the way, that last picture is really something."  
"I'll be sure to pay extra attention to it then."  
"I'm sure you will. I sure did."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Looking around Lucas's room Nathan starts doubt to if there was anything there to find. He had looked almost everywhere and hadn't found what he was looking for. It was starting to look like maybe it wasn't there.  
"What are you looking for?"  
"Nothing," Nathan says turning around to find Peyton standing in the doorway heading out to the porch. "I was just thinking of helping Karen pack up his things."  
"Oh maybe I could help. I probably know my way around here better than you do anyway."  
"No, it's okay. I'm sure I can handle it."  
"That's interesting because you're acting strange," Peyton says staring him in the eyes. "Almost like you're trying to hide your reason for snooping around Lucas's room."  
"I'm not snooping around."  
"Oh really, so that's the reason why you look like you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar?"  
"Alright," he says looking at her understandingly. "Maybe I'm snooping."  
"Wait, what's going on?"  
"I can't tell you."  
"Maybe you don't realize that he used to trust me," she says walking over to his dresser. "Check in there!"  
"What could he hide in there?"  
"You'd be surprised."  
Looking inside the wooden container that she had pointed at Nathan finds a small envelope inside. Picking it up he studies it closely. As he turns it over he spots where Lucas wrote Peyton's name on the front of the envelope.  
"It's for you," Nathan says handing it to her. "He must of knew you would think to look in there."  
"Or maybe it's just a note that he didn't get around to giving me."  
"Something makes me doubt that."  
"Dear Peyton," she says glancing up at Nathan as she starts to read the letter inside. "If you're reading this I'm most likely no longer with you. I've left you this letter for a couple of reasons. One for closure, and secondly to make sure that justice is served. You more than anyone will know where to look for justice. As someone that loves you I don't want to put you in any danger, but if you're reading this there's no guarantee that you or anyone else I was close to is safe."  
Looking up at Nathan, Peyton starts to shake. Hugging her he tries to get her to stop shaking. Messaging her back he rests her head on his shoulder. Feeling her tears on dampening his shirt he rests his head lightly on top of hers.  
"It's going to be okay. We'll figure it out together."

_Coming into the living room Lucas pauses as he spots Dan sitting on the couch next to Karen. Looking up at him she shifts her weight. Heading past them and leaving them alone in the house he heads out to Keith's car.  
Hearing the car start up Karen looks over at Dan. Torn and worried, she wonders what Lucas may possibly be thinking of doing. She knew that he wasn't that fond of her being around Dan, especially now.  
He made it known almost every time he saw them together now, and when Dan wasn't around Lucas always found a way to bring up Keith and the shooting nowadays. That second part was a newer development, and it made her worry. He didn't seem to be handling the outcome of the shooting as well as he had seemed to before. She didn't know what she could do about it though._  
Looking down at the last picture in the pile, Karen can't help but think that perhaps Lucas had been onto something. Why else would she be holding a picture with him in it alive? Someone had tried to kill him and somehow he had survived. She couldn't believe it, all of these months he was really alive.

"So who do you think he thought was responsible?"  
"I would say that he meant your dad."  
"Why would he mean my dad?" Nathan looking confused scans Lucas's room for any other information. "I mean I'm not the biggest fan of the guy, but he wouldn't kill someone."  
"Look Nate I know you don't want to believe it, but he did almost choke Lucas to death that one time."  
"When did that happen?"  
"Senior year the night that your dad tried to get Whitey fired," Peyton says walking over to the closet and finding the shirt that Lucas was wearing that night. "He was wearing this shirt that night. He thought at the time that Lucas was the one that had tried to kill him."  
"That doesn't mean that he would have gone to kill him this time."  
"And who else do you think would kill Lucas?"  
"I don't know," he says looking down at his phone and messing up his face some. "Why would my dad want to kill him though?"  
"Someone must know what he was up to."  
"Like who?"

"Hey Joe," Karen says coming up to the desk in the police office. "Can I talk to you in private?"  
"Yes I can."  
"Thanks, I really appreciate this."  
"It's no problem," Joe says showing Karen into one of the rooms off to the side. Closing the door he gestures for her to sit down. "Besides you must find it rather important if you didn't wait to find a babysitter for the little one."  
"Well I didn't want to put it off."  
"Alright then, what do you want to talk about?"  
"I was wondering if you could look into the school shooting for me," she says holding Kerry in her lap. "I know it's not something that people would normally ask you to do, but Lucas kept bringing it up before he got shot at the river court."  
"So you think the two are related?"  
"I think that there's a common link somehow. I can't think of any other reason someone would shoot him like that."  
"You think that someone felt that he was getting too close to figuring out something than," he says jotting down some notes. "Is there anyone that you would suspect?"  
"I'm not sure, but he didn't like it when Dan was around me. Maybe you could just check out the gun from the school shooting."  
"Yeah I'll see what I can do. If it was anyone else coming in and telling me this I wouldn't take it seriously, but I know you don't just make up things so I'll look into it for you."  
"Thanks again," Karen says as they get up to head out of the room. "It's really kind of you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Hey," Royal says coming into the shop. "So how much longer do you think he can hold out?"  
"Who knows… he's the coldest person I've ever met."  
"All of those years that I thought I knew him, I guess I never realized what he was capable of."  
"So how has he been holding up?" Sitting down at the work table Lucas looks over to study Royal's expression.  
"He's been trying to hide it, but he does seem to be regretting it."  
"I'm kind of surprised. I thought perhaps it wouldn't bother him that much."  
"Yeah, well keep in mind that you don't know everything that a person thinks." Leaning up against the work table Royal gives him a stern look. "So I see that you used the credit card."  
"I had something I had to pay for."  
"I know, I only have one question for you."  
"Okay, ask away," Lucas says as he works on some paper work. "I don't have anything to hide from you the last time I checked."  
"Who's the girl? You paid for her hospital bill, so I'm just guessing the baby's yours. I thought we had a deal, that no one other than us knows about your whereabouts."  
"Look, I didn't know she was out here and she was here that day when my boss left. What was I supposed to do?"  
"Fine," Royal says being short. "Who is she?"  
"It's just Haley, she won't tell anyone."  
"She better not. This isn't something to take lightly, your life is at stake here."  
"You don't have to remind me," Lucas says looking at Royal irritated.

_Walking over to the bed Haley sits down near where Lucas is laying. Kicking off her slippers so goes to get under the covers. Leaning over above him she kisses him on the lips, and sneaking her tongue past his lips she pushes her body up against his.  
"So slave boy," Haley says pulling up and away from him slightly. "How about we have some fun?"  
Pulling her down closer to him, he presses his lips passionately up against hers. Reaching down and grabbing the bottom of her shirt she starts to pull it up. Smiling he watches as she's about to pull it up to expose her bosom._  
Hearing someone pounding on the door, he opens his eyes. The pounding becoming more aggressive, Lucas rolls over and looks over at the clock on his night stand. Seeing that it's only two in the morning he wonders who it could possibly be. Getting up out of bed he gets up and heads over to the door. Spotting a small girl standing outside his door as he opens it a crack, he wonders why she would be there.  
"Sir are you alright?"  
"Yeah I'm fine," Lucas says looking down at her confused. "Why what happened?"  
"You didn't feel it? There was a quake."  
"No I must not have. How bad was it?"  
"It was pretty bad," the girl says glancing around. "They were saying over the radio that it was really bad in town. You work in town right?"  
"Yes I do work in town. Where are your parents?"  
"My mom's at the inn.""Would you like for me to walk you there?" The girl looking slightly anxious starts to back away from the door. "It's okay, I'm not going to do anything to you."  
"I guess so."  
"Just give me a minute and I'll walk there with you."

"Claire… Brendan… where's Jason?" Yelling Haley looks around frightened. "Where is everyone?"  
Not seeing anyone in the darkened house Haley starts to panic. Stumbling into the room Claire slowly limps over to Haley. Reaching her she looks around frightened. Looking her over Haley starts to fear that Jason might not be alive.  
"Where is Brendan? I thought he was in here with you."  
"No, he wasn't. He was here holding Jason when I feel asleep, but I don't know where they are now."  
"It's going to be okay, don't cry." Glancing around Claire realizes the reality of things. "I can't get to the rest of the house, and I don't know a way out."  
"What are you talking about? We'll just get out through one of the windows."  
"I wish we could, but we can't. The ground has formed a moat of sorts around the house."  
"Oh crap," Haley says shaking.

"Mom he's okay," the girl yells as they enter the inn. "Did you hear me mom? He's okay."  
"Yes I heard you."  
"Where are you mom?"  
"I'm right here," a woman says coming into the hallway. "I sent her down to your place to check on you. I know you don't have that many friends and like that so I thought someone should make sure you were alright."  
"Thanks, I appreciate the concern. How are things in town?"  
"I'm afraid the town's almost unrecognizable by what they've been saying on the radio."  
"What the hell is going on?" Coming down the stairs yelling Royal spots Lucas and tries not to make the others in the room expect anything. "I got woken up by the lamps falling off of the night stands."  
"We had a quake that's all. Luckily we didn't get it as bad as they did in town."  
"Well I could use a ride into town."  
"I could give you one," Royal says walking over closer to Lucas.

"Uh what is that?" Hearing a noise Claire looks around to try and figure out what it is. "Do you know what that is?"  
Screaming as one of the beams starts to fall the girls run towards the doorway. Throwing their arms around each other they huddle in the doorway as the beams in the ceiling fall down towards the floor. Shaking they both look around anxiously at their surroundings.  
"Oh my gosh," Haley says in a shaky voice. "How are we going to get out of here?"  
"I don't know considering that the house is pretty much laying in shambles around us."  
As the ceiling starts to fall the girls jump and scream. Falling the ceiling collapses down onto the floor as it breaks into pieces. Jumping out of the way as they see part of the ceiling begin to fall down between them they get separated from one another.  
"Hales," Claire yells as she lands on the floor out in the hallway. Realizing that she can't see Haley she starts to panic. Looking towards the room that Haley was staying in she sees nothing but torn pieces of wood.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Running towards the house Lucas finds Brendan sitting on the ground in the front yard. Hearing him coming up to him Brendan looks up at Lucas. Looking down at Brendan's arms he notices the empty baby blanket laying over them.  
"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that I didn't want you around."  
"I'm here to check on Haley and Jason. You were wrong if you thought I'd stay away just because you don't want me around them. Now," Lucas says looking down at the empty baby blanket. "Where is he?"  
"Where he's at is none of your business. Besides how did you know they were going to be here?"  
"You were talking about them coming down here with your sister this weekend. Now where are they?"  
"I'm not sure," Brendan says giving in. "I'm guessing that the girls were sleeping, and I was just coming back from my walk with him when the quake hit. He flew out of my arms when I fell. That's all I know."  
"You're going to help me find him."  
"Well I was heading towards the house when it happened so he probably got thrown in that general direction."  
"You better pray he's alright," Lucas says looking him straight in the eyes. Turning away from him he heads towards the house looking for Jason. As he nears the house he spots the moat formed around it and becomes even more anxious about Jason's whereabouts.

_This just in, there has been a earthquake in southern California just about a half an hour to an hour ago. A number of towns how been hit rather hard by this earthquake and the authorities are asking for all families of people that may be within the area to keep their phone lines and all other possible forms of communication open._  
"Hey Karen," Peyton says seeing where the map up on the television screen is showing. "Isn't that near Stanford?"  
"I believe it is. Do you think I should call Haley's parents about it?"  
"Yeah, you probably should. By the way thanks for helping me with my school work for my business class."  
"It's not a problem Peyton, I enjoy helping you with it."

Searching through the bushes Lucas glances over at his shoulder at Brendan. Shaking his head he can't believe that Brendan thought so little of him after having worked with him for months. Not only that, but now Brendan just remained there sitting on the front lawn. Lucas couldn't figure out why he wasn't trying to help him find Jason.  
Hearing a baby's cry, Lucas looks in the direction it's coming from. Heading towards the crying, he carefully makes his way through the bushes. Finding his son, Lucas slowly picks him up and cradles him in his arms.  
Walking over to where Brendan's still sitting Lucas looks down at him. Bending down, Lucas places Jason in his arms. Looking up from his arms as Lucas places Jason in them Brendan looks at him surprised.  
"It's going to be nearly impossible to get in there."  
"I know," Lucas says straightening up. "That's why you're going to stay out here holding Jason."  
"Are you crazy?"  
"Maybe I am."  
Sprinting towards the house Lucas grabs some planks of wood that he had noticed had fallen down off of the house and drags them over in front of the front door. Making sure that they're somewhat secure he glances back at Brendan and Jason. Cautiously crossing the planks Lucas makes it across to the front door. Kicking it in as he stands on the ground in front of it he makes his way into the house.

"Thanks for agreeing to help me out on such short notice," Karen says looking over at Whitey. "I really appreciate it."  
"It's fine, besides I kind of miss working."  
"All you should have to do around here is make sure everyone shows up for work, which shouldn't be a problem because they're usually good about that. If you need any help or just need a break any time after five, you can probably get Peyton to come down and relieve you. Oh, and Kerry shouldn't give you that much trouble either."  
"I can handle it Karen," he says laughing. "Just go see if Haley's alright or not."  
"I almost forgot, make sure that Dan doesn't get close too Kerry."  
"Why in the hell would I let that devil get near her?"  
"True," she says letting out a small laugh.

"Hales," Lucas yells as he nears the back of the house. "Anyone…"  
"Kidd…?"  
"Claire…?"  
"Over here," she says waving her arms. "Over here near the doorway."  
"Are you alright?"  
"Yeah, I just have a couple of twists and sprains. By the way that picture doesn't do you any justice."  
"What picture?" Looking at her puzzled he wonders what picture she saw. Refocusing his attention to the problem at hand he takes a look around. "Where's Haley?"  
"She should be around here somewhere. We were standing huddled together in that doorway until the ceiling in there came falling down and we got separated. I haven't seen or heard her since though."  
Heading towards the room the girls had been in earlier, Lucas looks down at the ceiling rubble. As he spans the area of the room to his right something catches his eye. Could it be…?  
_"You're getting rid of this?"  
"Yeah," Lucas says as he looks over at Haley holding up a t-shirt. "I don't want it anymore."  
"Well if you don't think it's cool enough to be seen in anymore, can I have it?"  
"Help yourself, I don't see why you'd want some bleached out orange shirt though."_  
It was that t-shirt that he saw, he would know that shirt anywhere. He was rather certain of that. Hell he had only worn it every time him and the guys played ball that one summer when they had decided to wear different colored shirts per each team. Him and Fergie had been the orange team that summer while Skills and Junk were the blue team.  
"Claire, grab a piece of wood or two and get over here," he says trying to figure out how they can get to Haley. Making her way over to him she uses the two pieces of wood that she has found as a form of crutches. "She's over there, so maybe if we prop up this board I could get to her."  
"Alright, luckily she's under the side of that piece."  
"Hopefully that'll make it easier not to place too much of the weight on her body."  
"Okay, now one, two, and three," Claire calls out as they prop up the piece of ceiling using the pieces of wood. "Do you think you could get to her?"  
"I think I can. Just make sure it stays propped up."  
"Oh, I will."  
Crawling over to where Haley's laying, he feels for a pulse. She's still breathing although she's unconscious. _Pure luck!_ Sliding his arms and hands down under her he grabs hold of her. Backing out, he pulls her body up close to his chest as he carries her out of harm's way.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"You seem like someone that she'd like," Claire says looking over at Lucas as they sit at Haley's bedside. "I'm sorry for even considering that you were different than you really are."  
"It's alright. I've been accused of at least a couple things I didn't do before."  
"Oh, so she wouldn't have happened to tell you who her son's father is would she?"  
"I thought you two were close," Lucas says studying Claire's reaction as he says it.  
"Apparently you thought she might have mentioned it to me. To tell you the truth I don't think she trusts me that much. In fact I seem to do more bad than good most of the time."  
"Why, what did you do?"  
"I was talking with one of her friends online the one time when I was watching Jason, and I sent the person her pictures." Looking at him, she wonders what he'll think about it. "Let's just say she wasn't too happy about that."  
"Let me guess, I was in one of those pictures."  
"Yeah you were."  
"Great," he says looking around the room and out towards the hallway. "Who did you send them to?"  
"Some guy named Nathan."  
Digesting the information Lucas isn't that sure about what to think. If Nathan had that picture he could of shown it to anyone by now. Feeling Claire watching him he brings his focus back to her. Getting up from the chair he's sitting in Lucas turns to head for the door.  
"Look, I have to go. Just tell Haley I was here, alright?"  
"Yeah," she says pondering why he had to take off in such a hurry as he leaves the room.

"Where's Karen?"  
"She's not here," Whitey says looking up at Nathan. She won't be here for awhile either."  
"Oh, do you know where she is?"  
"She's out checking up on your ex wife."  
"Umm," Nathan says glancing around the café. "Why is she doing that?"  
"There was an earthquake out there, but perhaps you didn't hear about that."  
"Yeah, I didn't hear about that."

Making his way to the end of the hallway, Lucas pauses before he reaches the adjoining main hallway. Peeking around the corner, he spots his mom talking to one of the nurses at the desk. Deciding to sneak by while she's distracted, he heads straight to the elevator. Slipping into the elevator, he stands to the side of the doors so that no one can see him.  
"After all of these years," Karen says getting onto the elevator just as the doors are about to close. "You still thought you could sneak past me and I wouldn't notice."  
"I suppose I did."  
"You always did didn't you?"  
"Yeah," Lucas says as she pushes a button for one of the other floors. "So I'm guessing you're here because of Haley."  
"I'm here because of the three of you."  
"So you know?"  
"Yes," she says looking over at him caringly. "Nathan showed me the picture."

"How's the little guy doing?"  
"He's doing fine," Claire says as Brendan walks over to her. "Can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure… what?"  
"How much do you know about Kidd?"  
"Not much other than he makes me look bad around the shop," Brendan says leaning up against the wall. Why what did he do now?"  
"He left in a hurry when I was talking with him just earlier, and I think it was because of the subject of conversation at hand."  
"In that case I don't know that much about him, but I do have a feeling about him."  
"Oh," she says glancing over at Haley and then refocusing her attention on Brendan. "Like what?"  
"I think they knew each other."  
"Really what would make you think that?"  
"You remember that day you and Phil left me at the house with her alone," he says kneeling down next to Claire. "I kissed her that day, and it was good until she felt the grease on my pants. She acted strange about it and normally I wouldn't think too much about it, but he was in more of a hurry to get to the house after the earthquake to find them than most people would have been."

"So only you and Nathan know right?"  
"That I know of," Karen says looking understanding about his concern. "He gave me the picture to keep."  
"I guess that's a plus."  
"Well if I have anything to say about it justice will be served soon enough."  
"I appreciate the support," Lucas says looking unsure of how he should handle the situation. He still couldn't believe that they were having this talk. Truthfully he had thought it'd never happen, and that he would never have spoken to or seen his mother again. Here they were though, talking to each other, and Lucas was just relieved that his mom knew that he was alive after all.  
"How about you stay?"  
"I would love to, but you know that under the circumstances it's not the best idea."  
"I understand that," she says putting her arms around him and pulling him close to her. "I know how you are though and that you would normally do it."  
"What would make you say that?"  
"You're history with running into dangerous situations."  
"That was different though," he whispers into her ear. "What about Dan?"  
"He's not anywhere near here."  
"How do you know?"  
"Trust me," Karen says as they get up. "He's busy with mayoral duties. Not to mention that if he does anything to you this time he's going to regret it."  
"In that case I will stay."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I don't know why you're still here or how the heck you really know Haley, but you better not think that I'm just going to let you steal her from me."  
"Look," Lucas says taking a step back away from Brendan. "I get it, you see me as a threat. I don't blame you either because personally I see you as her replacement for me. Of course you probably know the problem with replacements right?"  
"They're never as good as the original? Yeah don't worry, that's not the case."  
"Actually, knowing what I know I'd say that is the case."  
"She's finally up," Claire says half running out of Haley's hospital room. Realizing what the guys had been up to she rolls her eyes at them. "You two just can't get along now can you?"  
"He's the one that keeps being insecure about things."  
"That would figure."  
"Well than big guy," Brendan says sarcastically. "You wouldn't have a problem with me going in to see her first would you?"  
"Go right ahead."  
"See you later then. Visiting hours end in about ten minutes."  
"At least one of you likes to be bigger than the other," Claire says turning to face Lucas as they stop walking.  
"How I see it, I already won. He can think otherwise all he wants, but in the end I'm the one that's going to win."  
"Can you really be that certain?"  
"I'm not being cocky," Lucas says moving closer to her. "I just know things about Haley that most people don't, and I know who wins in her mind."

"I've noticed that you haven't been in to see her yet," Karen says coming up to Lucas in the hall a little while later. "I'm sure she would like to see you."  
"I'll see her during the upcoming visiting hours. Brendan should be leaving to go back to town soon anyway."  
"He's giving you a hard time?"  
"Yeah," Lucas says looking over towards Haley's door. "He thinks that he can supposedly win her love."  
"And you know you already have it."  
"Exactly…"

"We have to stop doing this," Lucas jokes walking into Haley's hospital room.  
"I know, right? Well, I hope I won't have to be in here again for awhile after this."  
"That's good…"  
"You're going to go into hiding again aren't you?" Slipping her hand into his as he nears the bed, she guides him closer to her.  
"For at least awhile, but hopefully it won't be for too much longer."  
"Luke, I love you."  
"I've known," he says leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. "You might want to tell Brendan about it before we get too serious. He still thinks he has a chance with you."  
"He seems to make a lot out of a little."  
"You're not kidding."  
"Well I don't want you to get into trouble," Haley says as tears form in her eyes and are about to fall. "You can go if you need to."  
"I don't need to yet."  
Wiping away Haley's tears as they fall from her eyes, he leans over her holding her close to him.

_Walking over to a tree near the river court he watches Lucas shoot hoops. Glancing around he looks to see if anyone is around. Pulling the gun out of the paper bag he was carrying it in, he makes as little noise as possible. As Lucas looks over at the tree hearing the crunching of the bag he spots him. Feeling his finger tighten around the trigger of the gun he soon finds it firing the gun.  
As the bullet lodges itself into Lucas and he falls to the ground a feeling of relief rushes through the shooters body. Backing away from the tree and into the shadows it created he rushed away from the scene. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw someone rush over to Lucas to check on him. Continuing to run, he makes his way to safety leaving Lucas there to die in the hands of the person that ran to take care of him._  
Startled by the sound of footsteps nearby, Dan awakens to see Nathan standing in front of him. The guilt from his dream still evident on his face, he tries his best to shake it off.  
"You really did kill him," Nathan says seeing the guilt on his father's face. "I thought it had to be wrong, but it isn't."  
"Look I don't know who you're talking about, but I didn't kill anyone."  
"Lucas, that's who I'm talking about." As Dan hears him say Lucas' name he shutters in guilt. "You can't even stand to hear his name without thinking about what you did to him. All I have to ask is why did you do it, why did you shot him?"  
_Walking into the beach house Lucas looks around to see who's there if anyone. Heading further in he walks over to the kitchen counter where a knife is laying out on the counter. Picking the knife up he studies it.  
"Are you planning on killing me with that, son?"  
"No," Lucas says as he fumbles with the knife almost dropping it as he turns around to see Dan standing there in the room. Placing the knife back down on the counter he takes a deep breath.  
"Then why were you holding it and looking at it like that?"  
"It was just laying out on the counter, I was wondering if it was dirty."  
"You were looking for something special on it other than dirt, weren't you?" Knowing very well that Lucas looked to be on a mission from the surprise on his face when he had snuck up on him. Dan wasn't going to just let it slide._  
"Why did you shot him?!"  
"That's none of your business," Dan yells as he refocuses his attention on Nathan.  
"You killed my brother, it is my business!"  
"No it's not!"  
Shoving Nathan up against the wall in the beach house, Dan holds his arm up against his son's throat as his face turns red from anger.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Running over to Lucas as he lays bleeding on the court Daytona starts to panic. She didn't know him all that well, but she did know that the shot seemed to be not as life threatening as it could be. By some kind of luck the wound didn't look deep enough to do any serious damage in her mind not to mention that the bullet seemed to be lodged into an area that wouldn't effect any major organs. That was the miracle in her mind.  
Looking closer she sees that it had hit a bone in his shoulder region. Or was it a muscle? She really couldn't tell at that moment which it was. All she knew was that he was seriously injured and that her adrenaline was pumping.  
Pulling out her brand new cell phone she quickly hit's the digits to call 911. Her voice was trembling, she could hear it doing so. She also had a tone of terror in it too, which didn't surprise her. Daytona couldn't get over the shock that one of the nicest people, by how much she knew Lucas, had gotten shot in such a manner.  
As she bends down closer to him to get a better look as she waits for the ambulance and police cars to get there, she sees his eyes try to open and then close. It must be too bright she thought knowing that she wasn't blocking any of the light.  
"I'll be alright," he says weakly. "You can't tell anyone…"  
The first part made sense to her. She didn't see a reason why he would die from the injury. The second part got to her though. Just as she wanted to ask him why she couldn't tell anyone she felt his body go limp._  
Coming back into her conscious mind as she feels someone poke her Daytona knows that she has been daydreaming about one of the most baffling days she could of ever have experienced in her life. Looking at the culprit that poked her she finds a rather out of it Nathan staring at her. Taking a closer look at him she could see some light bruising on his neck.  
"What happened to you?"  
"Dan," Nathan says looking uncomfortable calling his father that. "I just had to get out of town while I could after it."  
"And you always know that around here we can't stand having that guy around."  
"Yeah… I just can't believe he shot Lucas."  
"Oh my…" Her jaw literally dropped and she knew it. She always had wondered who had shot him, but she had never thought about the possibility of that person being Dan. What Lucas said that day now made a lot more sense to her in a way she never thought possible. "You said that he shot Lucas," she says thinking more about how Nathan had just worded it. "Don't you mean that he killed Lucas?"  
"No, by what I know he's very much alive."  
"He was right."  
"What the heck are you talking about?" Looking at her puzzled Nathan tries to figure out what she could mean by it but comes up blank.  
"Lucas told me that he was going to be alright after he got shot that day. I kind of thought he would be, but than he supposedly… died."  
"I still don't know how he pulled it all off. It's hard getting out of town without that man half knowing your every move."

"Trying to kill off the other one now Danny?"  
"No," Dan says looking over at Royal shocked by his accusation. "I've never killed anyone."  
"Why should I believe that? You killed Keith, even your mother has figured that out by now. Then you try killing Lucas, and now you half tried strangling Nathan. Just tell me when you plan on stop acting like the devil because you certainly don't act like one of my sons anymore."  
"She's figured that out?"  
"Yes," Royal says with a stern look on his face. "We had it looked into when we heard about it. Even we couldn't believe that someone would kill Keith. He always had a big heart."  
"I didn't try killing Lucas, I killed him."  
"There's two people that you've killed with big hearts."

_It was the day after the shooting, and cautiously Rachel made her way into the hospital. She knew no one really liked it when she went to the hospital to see anyone. It was mainly all her fault and she couldn't really blame anyone for feeling that way. Making her way down the hall when she gets up onto his floor she goes to head towards his room.  
Seeing an older couple standing across from his room as she approaches it, she notices that it's his and Nathan's grandparents. At first she thought it was odd, but they were family and in a time like this they should be there. Heading into his room slowly she walks over to his bed and sits down in the chair next to it.  
Studying him she realizes that he's breathing rather easily as he lays there sleeping. Leaning over him as she moves up onto the bed she gently runs her fingers through his hair. Kissing him gently on the cheek she frowns.  
"Hey stranger," he says softly as he awakens. "What are you doing here?"  
"I just came to see you and tell you that I'm sorry for so much."  
"You're just human."  
"I know," she says feeling his hand rest on hers. "What I've done though is inexcusable."  
"At least you feel bad about it."  
"Look, I should get going. I didn't mean to stay this long."  
"Do one thing for me," Lucas whispers so that she can barely hear him. Leaning down closer to him to hear she wonders what he could want her to do. Handing her a box he leans up slightly to whisper in her ear. "Don't let anyone see what's inside."_  
Looking down at Keith's gravestone with the box in her hands tears run down her checks. She had been guarding that box with her life, and even she wouldn't dare look inside it. Rachel owed Lucas that much after all she had a hand in bringing about.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Talking on the phone Dan looks around as he hears something moving outside. Seeing nothing right away he walks over closer to the windows. Hearing more movement, this time in the beach house, he excuses himself from his conversion and hangs up the telephone. Heading towards the movement he pauses as he approaches the door of one of the bathrooms.  
Quickly opening the door he bursts into the room. Shoving the intruder up against the wall his face turns red with anger. Half strangling him Dan doesn't show any sign of letting up. He was pissed to have such an intruder in his house.  
"Dad," Lucas barely forces out under the force of his father's force. He hoped it would get Dan to lessen his grip on his throat. That appeared to be the magic word as he found him pulling away from him slightly. Dan insisted on keeping a hold on his shirt though just the same. "Aren't you sorry?"  
"Not right now!"  
"There's proof that you shot him. It was right there in front of everyone the entire time, but no one thought of it. They just took for granted that Jimmy killed him."  
"If you value your life you'll leave this all alone," Dan says spitting in Lucas' face.  
"Never! I have to clear his name."  
"You fool, he took a gun to school and opened fire. There's nothing to clear!"  
"No," Lucas says wincing from the pain that Dan was inflicting upon him once again around his throat. "He never killed anyone other then himself. There's plenty to clear his name of."  
Becoming extremely irritated with his eldest son he tightens his grip on his throat even more. Starting to loose consciousness and strength Lucas starts to fall back against the wall half limp. Letting go realizing what he's doing he lets go causing Lucas to fall to the floor of the bathroom._  
Cringing at the thought of what he did to Lucas, Dan starts to loose it. Holding his hands up to his face in horror of it.  
_Walking into the dealership after his long day at the Mayor's office he finds Lucas sitting in his office waiting for him with a box sitting on the desk in front of him. Heading over to his office he slams the door behind him as he makes his way into it. "Is that your proof?" His face turns fifty shades of red as he continues to look at Lucas and the box on the desk.  
"Yes," Lucas says staying composed. Grabbing the box as Dan goes to reach for it he takes it back into his custody. "I'm not going to let you get a hold of it before I go to the police with it either."  
"Give that to me!" Lunging towards Lucas he tries to grab the box without success.  
"Over my dead body!"  
"I'd watch what you say, it may just come true."_  
Standing on Rachel's doorstep Lucas rings the doorbell. Waiting for her to come to the door, he knows that she's not expecting him. Finally coming to the door about a minute later she gestures for him to come in instantly. Following her up to her bedroom he heads over to her bed and sits down.  
"I'm guessing what's in here is really important," she says retrieving the box from her closet. "Don't worry I didn't look inside."  
"It is important, and in all fairness you could of looked. There's just someone that I didn't want knowing what was really in it, so I thought it'd just be safer not to tell you what I did."  
"So you just didn't want to clue me off to who shot you?"  
"Yeah," he says opening up the box. "If he saw what's really inside he would… probably kill me right now."  
"What is that?"  
"It's money that I put away for Haley and Jason before graduation. I was going to give it to her that day, but then I stopped by the dealership and he thought the proof was inside. After that I knew he would be looking for the box and I knew I couldn't put Haley and the baby in danger like that."  
"Well I guess we're kind of even now, considering that my life could of really of been in danger. Then again," she says looking guilty. "I suppose I brought this all about in one way or another."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I was the one that… umm… released the time capsule."  
"You know what," Lucas says getting up from the bed as his face turns red. "You're right."  
"I didn't mean for you to get hurt." Looking down she knows there's a good chance he won't forgive her. "You were always the one person I liked and cared about the most around here other than myself. I've just always been too self centered and it always causes me to do things that hurt others in which I don't intend to hurt. I know you have no reason to really forgive me for what I've done, but you're the last person I ever wanted to hurt."  
Calming down the slightest bit Lucas shakes his head. Reaching up and placing her hand up along side the bottom of his neck gently she leans in towards him. Kissing him on the other side of his neck she then rests her chin on his shoulder. That's all it took for him to relax as he carefully rested his chin on the top of her head.  
Reaching for the box she gives it to him after she picks it up. Holding it he pulls away from her slightly confused. Looking at him not surprised knowing his history she gives him a quick peck on the lips and then looks him right in the eyes.  
"You'll always be in my heart, but we're not going to do anything more than what we've already done here." Backing away from him she gives him a sweet sincere smile. "You're a great guy. I just don't feel like getting my butt handed to me by your lover."  
"You never had a problem going after me when Brooke acted like I was her property though."  
"The circumstances this time around are a lot different. You really love and care for Haley, and she feels the same way towards you. There aren't any games being played regarding your relationship with her either, which I have to respect no matter how I feel about you."  
"Do you think we could at least be friends?"  
"Without benefits… yeah we could do that."  
"I'll see you around then," he says hugging her and then turning to leave. Holding up the box he turns back momentarily to look at her. "Thanks!" Heading out the door he shows himself down to her car.


End file.
